How to get a gun in Palworld

Jan. 18, 2024

Despite being marketed as Pokemon with guns, it’s a while before you get a shotgun or assault rifle in Palworld

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Palworld guns are one of the main selling points of the game, but something that, in reality, players probably won’t obtain for a while, especially the more deadly artillery at play. Shotguns, assault rifles, SMGs, pistols, rocket launchers and more besides are all up for grabs, but a lot of them will be later, and it depends whether you want them for yourself or for your Pals to use.

Whichever you want, we’ll explain in our guide on how to get a gun in Palworld below. Lock and load, lil' critters.

How do you get a gun in Palworld?

Guns and firearms in Palworld come in three forms: those that you equip as a player like standard weapons, Pal Equipment that unlock new abilities for your allies, and mounted weaponry for your base that Pals can operate. We’ve covered the methods to get them all below, as well as how they differ in combat as a rule.

Getting guns as a player is largely a matter of just levelling up enough that you can begin to unlock equipable firearms on the technology tree - but this is something that takes a while.

The standard rate of progression means that players can be in Palworld for several days before they even reach the level necessary to obtain a basic musket or crossbow, let alone the heavy artillery at the lower end of the tree.

Unlocking these items also doesn’t mean you immediately have them - you simply use the technology points granted through levelling up to unlock the recipe for these weapons, and then have to craft them (as well as their ammunition) at your base.

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You can also obtain guns for your Pals, but this is far more contextual. All Pals have triggered abilities that players can use, some of which are thematically expressed as the Pal simply having a gun. For most such abilities, you need to unlock special equipment on the technology tree that’s specifically for a certain species of Pal thatcanhave a weapon.

However, Pals' guns have their advantages and disadvantages, mainly as they’re based on cooldowns rather than ammo, which they don’t use. The easiest way to get a Pal with a gun is to do the following:

Your Lifmunk now has theLifmunk Recoilability, which, when triggered, allows it to leap onto your head and fire an SMG wherever you’re aiming. What a time to be alive.

Finally, players can research and build certain base defenses that come with mounted weaponry as part of their design, to which Pals can be assigned to fire on hostile enemies that come within range. This is probably the least versatile, as they really are just manned structures that deal damage, and players won’t get these kinds of mounted weapons until they reach the Mounted Crossbow on the tech tree at level 26 - though those who max out to level 50 can unlock a Mounted Missile Launcher.

When you build one, simply pick up a Pal that’s working at that base and throw it at the mounted weapon to assign them to it. You now have an armed guard protecting your lair.

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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.

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